Destiny Triplet, a senior for Douglas/Rapid City Christian/New Underwood, recorded her 100th career win on Friday night in Rapid City during the semifinal round of the state wrestling tournament. Not only is this a personal milestone for her, but it also comes with Triplet’s first trip to the finals.
As a freshman, she placed fourth at state. The next year she was on the podium in seventh, and then as a junior, Triplet didn’t place. From there, she kept working, striving to do something special.
“It’s seven years of hard work. It pays off, it feels really great. I don’t even know right now, I’m still kind of shaken up, but it’s really great,” said Triplet. “I couldn’t do it without all these amazing people, though. I’ve got all my coaches and all my family.”
“She reset her mind, and to come back to be in the finals, it speaks for itself,” exclaimed Nick Ferguson, Triplet’s coach. “That’s been the biggest milestone was not being in the medals last year, and to come back and be in the finals, that’s the big step.”
It’s one thing as an athlete to reach a personal milestone, but it adds a little extra sprinkle to it when it happens at the state tournament – let alone when it comes in front of an arena that’s packed in to watch the semifinals.
“The people, it is 100% the people for me. I’ve told myself, I love the sport, but I stick with it because of the family I’ve made and just everything about the people in it,” explained Triplet. “You’ve got great people on your team, you’ve got great coaches, you meet great people out there wrestling on the mat. It’s just great people to me.”
Triplet began wrestling in middle school as a sixth grader. By the time she got to high school, girls wrestling in South Dakota had become a fully sanctioned sport. She mentioned how much the sport has grown since her freshman year.
“Watching it this year, it makes me want to almost cry,” she said. “It’s like watching it grow; I’ve watched it grow up and it's sort of like watching it graduate. It’s really cool. I think I had less than 20 matches my freshman year, and now I’ve got over 50 matches this year. It makes you want to cry. It’s amazing and I love it.”
Triplet is in the heavyweight division. Her victory in the semi’s was a 5-3 decision win over Unique Clairmont of Todd County.
“Being a heavyweight wrestler, it’s hard to get there, because you don’t have as many matches as everyone else, because there’s not as many girls,” told coach Ferguson. “To be able to reach it, and to be able to do it at the state tournament her senior year is a milestone within itself, so that’s been amazing.”
Triplet will face Eden Hach of Watertown in the finals on Saturday afternoon. The championship matches are scheduled to begin at 1 pm MT, and it will air live on SDPB1-TV, and stream live online and on YouTube.
